Seeing God’s unconditional loveTo use the phrase: “God’s unconditional love,” is to utter a wonderful fact about God’s nature. He loves because He chooses to love and for no other reason. His love is not dependent upon finding something in us that merits His love. His love is without conditions — it is unconditional. It says in 1 John 4:10 that “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God’s love was...

Dishonor or adorn, it’s your choiceThe book of Titus is about leadership and it’s about education. It also gives some insight into the importance of the family. Titus 2 points out the importance of our behavior to how the gospel message is received. It is likely that we Christians will have to bear some of the blame for unbelievers rejecting the gospel message. In the midst of the discipleship instructions given in Titus 2, this passage states in two places that the world’s per...

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Pastor Steve EllisonThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Flocabulary responseWhat I am going to share in this column can best be described as “the big city has come to the country, and at least some in the country don’t like it.” And I might say up front, that I am one of them. A few weeks ago I got an email from Jason Gilmore, senior auditor of the Defense Contract Audit Agency branch office in Fort Walton Beach. This is a branch of the federal government, and I am sure what he had to say was troubling. First, please ...

Good thing husband can cook — I can’tMy husband does most of the cooking around my house. He is a better cook than me. Sure, I have a few recipes that are absolutely delicious that I can make with my eyes closed. I am a hit at potlucks. However, for the day-to-day meal planning, I am lost. Being able to plan and shop for meals for a whole week at a time is not a skill I possess. How on earth am I supposed to know on Sunday what sounds good for dinner Tuesday? Thankfully, I don’t ...

Senator points to law as root of problemsState Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock, took umbrage at one quotation in last week’s column about problems in Arkansas’ parole system. Sanders, a former Arkansas News Bureau columnist, has been the legislative point person in investigating those problems. The quotation was from then-Sen. Jim Luker, D-Wynne, who at a 2009 legislative hearing on other problems related to the state Department of Correction said that lawmakers “need to do a littl...

Bielema easily gives as good as he gets in jestLITTLE ROCK — Assured by Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long that Bret Bielema has a sense of humor, Rex Nelson shared a so-called apology letter from former Ohio State University President Gordon Gee with an overflow crowd at the first Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting of the 2013 season. If Gee had blasted Bobby Petrino like he did Bret Bielema, Nelson would never have considered the prop with the Razorback coach two seats away. Bielema w...

Consider the nature of newsWhat is news? It’s a question I’ve pondered often in my work as a community journalist. I’ve fought with higher-ups who wanted to write a story I didn’t feel was worth the time it’d take to write it, and I’ve fought with them to publish a story I felt was important. I’ll admit that I’ve scoffed at other news outlets who ran what I considered to be non-stories. All this is to say there are differing opinions on what news is, exactly. I think, t...

Bookout marks 3rd high-profile scandalThe Arkansas Ethics Commission announced a much-anticipated $8,000 penalty on Friday against state Sen. Paul Bookout, based on its investigation of his campaign finances. The fine — the biggest ever assessed by the commission — wasn’t as shocking as the glaringly personal nature in which the Jonesboro senator spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds. His case marks the third time in a year Arkansas Democrats in elective offices have been e...

Corporate greed is making us sickThe failure of our corporate and political leaders to make sure every worker gets good health care is causing some unpleasant consequences — like widespread stomach flu. Ill workers often spread illness, because millions of employees who deal directly with the public are not covered by paid sick leave policies. So, when they come down with something like the stomach flu, they tend to drag themselves to work, rather than going to bed until they...

Presidential vacation: Naughty or necessity?Well, it’s that traditional time of the year again when the president goes on vacation and the conservative world ridicules him for taking time off with his family because of the disarray of our country or the enormousness of expenditures in his doing so. But is there really nothing redeemable or commendable in a father and husband’s spending extended time with his family away from home and office, even when it’s the Oval Office? Don’t misunde...

Bowl shortage likely in SECLITTLE ROCK — Penciling in teams from the Southeastern Conference, bowl games in Birmingham and Shreveport best have an eraser. Under the SEC’s recently announced bowl agreements, the Birmingham Bowl and the Advocare V100 Bowl will be fortunate if there are any bowl-eligible SEC teams to pick from when it comes their turn. Just for grins, let’s use the 2012 SEC standings and apply the bowl structure that goes into effect in 2014, including the...

Single pens, saddlebagsThe Shiloh Museum of Ozark History located in Springdale regularly offers in-house exhibits on Ozark life. The museum is known for its extensive photo collection and regularly creates online exhibits as well, such as the recent exhibit on Ozark log construction titled “Single Pens, Saddlebags, and Dogtrots.” Log cabins have become a backwoods stereotype. But this style of construction is a highly skilled art form dating back to both German and...

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Meredith Martin-MoatsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Overconfident drivers dream of populating DakotasMy son and I recently packed the car and drove to Massachusetts to deliver a piece of family furniture to my cousin. We estimated the drive to be about 14 hours and the toll expenses to be about $25. These estimations were based on many past trips to visit relatives in the Northeast. In an effort to outsmart anticipated traffic congestion, we left at 3:00 a.m. Our plan was to arrive in time to freshen up before supper. In reality, we pulled in...

Wonder Boys, Golden Suns return for preseason practiceI couldn’t resist. With temperatures in the low 80s outside, I had to take in Thursday’s first preseason practice for the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys. For the first time since August 1997, 125 ATU football players are going through two-a-day workouts under the leadership of a new head coach, Raymond Monica. After the usual ritual of making sure players had their physicals, got their uniforms and filled out all their paperwork, they’ve hit the pr...

Change — it don’t always come easyElections come and go, there is the hype, and then we move on to whatever is next on the calendar. That is the reality of our lives. The rezoning effort that will allow a new Walmart Neighborhood Market to be built in western Russellville was approved by voters with about 57 percent of the vote last week. In a few months, after all the administrative details are completed, construction work will begin on the city’s newest big-box retailer, a g...

When the school bus stops, you stopLet’s take a break from politics, considering we’re about to get our fill of it for the next 15 months. Instead, let’s talk about a topic where we all can agree: When the school bus stops, we stop. Well, apparently not everyone agrees. On April 17, Arkansas school bus drivers counted 589 motorists who illegally sped past their bus while it was stopped with red lights flashing. Only about a third of the state’s school bus drivers participated i...

Watching the Buffalo River for animal wasteOne of the many duties of our Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is to issue permits to farmers who maintain livestock and poultry operations. This does not usually attract much attention from the general public. But this year has been different because of the C&H Hog Farm in Newton County. ADEQ issues permits and guidelines instructing farms on the proper disposal of animal waste. This particular operation is near Big Creek, ...

A template for discipleshipTitus 2 is a marvelous passage. If a church is ignoring Titus 2, it is missing significant instruction regarding its fundamental mission. This passage gives a detailed template for discipleship in the church. Paul laid it out very clearly for Titus and for us. First, he told Titus to stick with sound teaching. Then, he divided the church into five groups: older men, older women, younger women, younger men, and slaves. This last group was very ...

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Pastor Steve EllisonThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Learning to get back to basicsVince Lombardi, who coached the famed Green Bay Packers football team from 1959 to 1967, was known for his “back to basics” coaching philosophy. After one terrible loss he walked into the locker room the next day and announced to the players that they were going to start over again from the beginning. He picked up a football, pointed to it with his other hand, and announced, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” It was that tough minded approach to...

A note on being thankfulEvery so often I have some person ask me this question: “Is your glass half empty or half full?” This is just another way of asking if you are basically a positive person or a negative person. I always answer half full, because in the vast majority of cases I try to see the positive or the good in people, or the various circumstances where I have to make choices. These thoughts came to mind when I read a very thought-provoking article a reader...